Discussion

As of 11AM, Tropical Storm Andrea has maintained sustained winds of 60 mph with gusts to 70 as well as a central barometric pressure reading of 29.43 inches. It is currently located about 110 miles west of Tampa, Florida and its outer bands are lashing the Florida Peninsula and the southern part of Georgia. [Latest satellite image posted on SI Weather Facebook page]. Six tornadoes have been confirmed in the state of Florida over the past several hours as a result of Tropical Storm Andrea. The latest reading on Andrea’s movement is to the northeast at 14 mph and this general direction should continue for the foreseeable future.

All indications continue to suggest that Tropical Storm Andrea will ride right up the east coast on Friday and Friday night bringing heavy rainfall to the Mid-Atlantic region – perhaps in the range of 2-4 inches. The storm will accelerate over the next 12-24 hours as it heads up the east coast reaching eastern North Carolina by tomorrow afternoon, then near the Jersey coastline later tomorrow night, and finally to near Cape Cod by early Saturday. The bulk of the storm’s effects around here will be in a 6-12 hour time period during Friday and Friday night; however, there will be some “non-tropical” rainfall ahead of the storm later today and tonight and some of that can actually come down hard at times. Winds should not be a major hazard with this storm in our region as gusts will likely peak at 40 mph or so along coastline locations later Friday and Friday night and 25-35 mph over inland sections.